If storm clouds don't get in the way, it's a good week to spot the International Space Station in the night sky over the Baltimore area.
The satellite's orbit will take it over Maryland each night through Friday, though it won't always be bright enough to spot easily. It will be on a northwest-to-southeast path with each pass.
On a clear enough night, it is difficult to miss. It appears like a cross between a star and a plane, moving swiftly through the darkness.
It will be relatively faint and low in the northern sky Monday night from 9:33 p.m. to 9:38 p.m.
It will be at its brightest Tuesday, moving across the center of the sky starting at 10:15 p.m. before disappearing in the Earth's shadow by 10:20 p.m.
Wednesday it will curve across the northern sky from the northwest to the east from 9:22 p.m. to 9:28 p.m. It will pass right by the star Lyra at 9:26 p.m.
On Thursday, it will take a more southerly path, appearing in the northwest at 10:04 p.m., passing right by Venus and then Jupiter in the west. It will near Saturn in the southern sky just before it disappears in Earth's shadow at 10:09 p.m.
Friday it will be near its brightest and moving directly across the center of the sky, rising in the northwest at 9:11 p.m. and disappearing in the southeast at 9:17 p.m.
There is no longer a Maryland native aboard the station. NASA astronaut Terry Virts, a Columbia native, and two crewmates safely landed back on Earth on Thursday. They spent 199 days in space, a month longer than planned because of a failed launch of a Russian cargo ship in April.
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, a Cockeysville native, spent about six months in space last year.